Everyone has their secrets
by crescent-moon-demon
Summary: In konoha, everyone has something they can't tell. Some can be funny, some can be painful. But to each person they mean the world. *On Hiatus*
1. Gaara

1_I hate this place. No that's wrong, I hate this life. I can't breathe, nothing makes sense. Damn racoon... he makes things difficult. I never had a mother, at least not one who loved me._

_Everyone hates me, and I hate them. But wait that's not right. I hate myself. Why do people care for me, I can tell when they want to help me. Just a look in their eyes..._

_but I scare them off. My eyes hurt and even now I can't sleep. If I do he'll get me and I'll never be able to escape. I hate his words, they echo in me even now. I hear him breathing, I hear his words. _

'_Stupid, disgusting, worthless of life. What being would love you, a monster...death, kill them all...'_

_**SHUT UP! I can't take it! Stop, stop talking!** _

_My head hurts, I want to sleep. _

_So bad, I want to sleep. I heard from naruto that people have dreams. I wonder what they are. I would like to have dreams, anything is better than this hollow darkness. _

_It's quiet, really quiet. Temari's asleep on the floor. It's her turn to watch me, _

_ever since that incident in konoha...I feel sorry for her, but I can not allow emotion...the racoon will take advantage of that. _

_He'll hurt me, I don't want to hurt anymore. I'm sick of this life, I want to die. _

_Stupid sand, how am I supposed to escape if you always protect me? _

_I wish for this night to end. Day is easier to handle... cause I can never be left alone with my thoughts..._

_**Gaara**_

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Sunlight poured down on the beautiful village of Konoha, waking everyone up from their long night of sleep. Preparations were already underway for the day's parade, set to welcome back the three genins of Sand. The same ones who only acted on the fake hokage's orders, and had no true intention of hurting Konoha or its people. Today was the village's birthday and ninja from nearby villages were coming by for the festivities. Today all things could be forgotten and peace could be re-forged.

The gate's gong rung out, signaling someone was entering Konoha. Town people rushed forward to see who would be coming so early, only to be met by the genin team from the village of sand. Their eyes moved over the three :temari, kankurou , and gaara. On gaara they stopped, still feeling the fear from the boy. It's eyes were surrounded by heavy bags, the color nearly faded from his green eyes. The group stepped forward and the villagers unintentionally stepped back. But a sudden yell brought them out of their state.

Naruto, the village's most potential and hated genin ran through the crowd, coming up to the front. Yelling his head off in greetings to the red-haired boy, who was quite shocked to be treated kindly other than hated. Naruto grabbed his arm and dragged him off somewhere, temari and kankurou following behind. Then the villagers went back to work, finishing up on the parade.

"Don't worry about the villagers, they're just still cautious about you since the exam. There's no harm, right?" Naruto was speaking non-stop, not even giving gaara a chance to reply. 'I don't think they're being cautious. They're just plain afraid and they should be. I am a monster after all.' Gaara forced himself to swallow the thought, and to do his best not to rip his arm out of the blonde's grip. He was sick of this idiot, his chattering, they way he pretended to care.

The idiot had even said he had a monster inside him as well, though he knew that was a complete lie. Noone was stupid, or as cruel, to seal a monster inside a boy. Well, at least noone other than his village. He bit his lower lip, holding back a rush of emotions that were just threatening to come out. Screams, tears, anguished cries, curses. His soul ached to let them drip from his lips, let them bathe everyone around, everyone that dared to pretend that they cared. 'But no...that's not me...'

Gaara hung his head in shame, the raccoon's words still carved into his mind. Everything he thought now wasn't what he desired to say, it's what the raccoon wished to say. The raccoon hated everyone that sealed him inside this red head. Gaara swallowed all of his emotions, setting his face blank again. It would do better to be stone-faced infront of everyone. It made things easier, lessened the pain. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, before opening them up again. That's when he noticed that naruto had stopped talking.

The blonde was looking at him, blue eyes worried. Temari and kankurou were not too far behind either. They were all silent. "What?" His voice came out in a growl, Naruto's face breaking out into a grin. "Oh, nothing," the other boy said. "Now who's up for Ramen?" His question was very random, but they followed him anyway, gaara being mostly dragged by the blonde. Not long after they were ducking their heads under curtains and entering into a ramen shop. Kakashi, Iruka, Sasuke and Sakura were already there. The pink-headed teenager was drooling over the dark boy beside her, her cheeks flushed a bright pink. But still sasuke didn't notice.

Heads turned when they entered, followed by polite 'hello's', unlike Naruto's earlier greeting. Gaara sat down on one of the chairs, not hungry one bit. His two teammates sat down along side him, and began polite conversation with the others. Even after all the months inbetween, they were still uncomfortable being here. Food was served and somehow they were invited to stay at various houses. Gaara was stuck with Naruto, Temari would go with sakura and kankurou would go with Iruka. Sasuke was too much of a bastard to even mention letting someone stay the night.

Gaara, unwillingly trailed after naruto, walking out of the stand into the evening air. 'Evening so fast?' Gaara had lost track of time and was confused at the darkening sky. But he brushed it off, and turned to the waiting blonde. "Come on, this way." he followed his host, his eyes barely even registering the neighborhood they strode through, only gaining focus when they stopped infront of a door. Gaara looked around as Naruto searched for his keys, leaning over the edge to look at the ground below. He must have been in a bad part of town for he had never seen Konoha like this. The ground was littered with all sorts of junk: clothing, bags and overall trash. Markings ran along ever wall, acrid smoke pushing air out of its place.

'How can naruto live in a place like this?' His mind was talking again, his mind this time not the raccoon's. He felt greater sympathy for Naruto, greater than the pang of guilt at having his teammates charged to watching him. A jingle of keys woke him from his reverie, taking his place beside Naruto as the blonde opened the door. It was dark for a second until a light was flipped on and the room exposed to him. Naruto didn't have much of clean house. There was no physical mess that he could see but he touched a small end table near the door, the one Naruto had put his keys on, and felt the layer of dust. Disgustingly he wiped the dust off, and looked back up at his generous host.

The blonde was messing around the small kitchen, which just happened to be joined with the dining room and living room in one medium space. He spotted more ramen, this time in instant cups, and watched as Naruto placed a pot on for boiling. "Naruto...?" Naruto turned and looked at the forlorn ninja he had readily accepted to house for the week, considering he and his teammates would be staying for the festival which ran that long. The guy looked truly uncomfortable in this place and Naruto began to wonder if something was bothering him. "Do you have a bathroom?" Gaara said it so softly that Naruto hardly heard but he nodded his head and pointed to a door not far away from the red-head.

"Just stay out of the cupboards please." He said as the sand ninja disappeared into the bathroom. His forehead broke out in small beads of sweat but he pushed it aside. 'Gaara would have more courtesy than that,' he thought. On the other side of the door, gaara stood unsure of why he even wanted to be here. He had asked a stupid question and had slipped into the bathroom just to get away. But to get away from what? He sat down on the toilet lid, staring at the door. But his curiosity drove him to look over at the sink. The bathroom was as small as the kitchen, a stand-in shower somehow fitted in with the small toilet and sink. One cupboard was built around the base of the sink. He crawled over, crouching in front of the cupboard. He grabbed the handle and looked inside, his eyes widening in surprise.

Shoved onto every single inch of space were bottles. Pill bottles to be exact. They ranged in colour from yellow to a sickly purple, and were covered in numerous stickers. Gaara picked one up and studied the scribbly writing written around the label, but couldn't figure out what the bottle's contents were for. Quietly he put the bottle back and shut the door. 'Why would Naruto have so many pills for?' Questions swarmed around Gaara's head, each one making him more confused. As far as he knew, the pills were not regulated soldier pills but something else all together. He stepped out of the bathroom, and sat at the small table placed in the middle of the room. Naruto already had their cups in place, steam rising from the half-covered tops. "Finally you came out. I thought you were gonna set camp in there." Gaara glared at the blonde, who fell silent for a second, before saying a little more quietly, "Well, eat up."

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The ceiling was dark and not much to watch but he kept his eyes glued to it anyways. Naruto had offered to give him his bed, but what was the point? Did Naruto forget that he never slept or did the dope just not know. Gaara sighed and turned his head to the sleeping boy. Naruto was a loud-mouth and an idiot but the guy still had some good points. Moonlight cast down on the blonde's head, making it glow eerily against the shadows. Cold metal touched the base of his palm and he remembered what he was supposed to be doing at that point. He looked down at the black book he had in his hands, his journal that he had brought with him from the sand. It was already opened onto a clean white page, waiting for him to pour his thoughts and feelings of the day onto its light blue lines. He grabbed a tighter hold on the pen and began to scrawl words into his journal, the darkness hardly obscuring his sight during his task.

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_What is this feeling? I'm confused...I thought I knew everything I was going through but now..._

_I have no idea. What am I to do? And what about Naruto? I know people hurt him..._

_...like how they hurt me..._

_but why? Why am I worried about him for some reason? All those pills..._

_What does he plan to do with them all? I can only ask questions...I'll never get any answers but.._

_I think this is the first night the raccoon has never bothered me. I know he's still there, under my skin. I'm not about to fool myself into thinking he's gone...but he's silent. No cruel words, no insults...nothing. **Why is it that now that I'm here, now that I'm with naruto that bastard of a raccoon doesn't speak!**_

_I think, maybe..._

_...if I could keep this silence then I would be happy... _

_For once I don't feel like dying, the pain doesn't bother me anymore. For once it's calm and quiet inside my mind. I never knew I could ever have such quiet..._

_**Gaara**_

**Author's note: Hello all!**

**This has to be like my third naruto fanfic (And yes I do not own Naruto...yet -.hehe soon, they will all be mine, mwahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!)**

**Sorry, I had too much sugar today -sugar good!**

**Anyways yea, I suck at these things but the point is REVIEW!**

**You don't review then you'll never find out why naruto's has those pills...and I will hate you all for the rest of my life. So there!**

**Review! it's not THAT hard! **


	2. Naruto

1_I really should have been careful. I knew that taking those pills would probably affect me but I had no idea that they'd affect me this much!_

_I'm trying my best to cope with it, but it's hard. _

_Noone knows yet..._

_I'm not sure if I can tell them. It would be pretty hard to accept..._

_I was diagnosed with it when I was young, like really young. Some nice doc saw me on the street._

_He was a traveling doctor... really nice dude...He gave me a check-up and everything._

_I still remember his warm hands, patting down my chest, taking my pulse. All those weird instruments he had stored in that large cart. He gave me all sorts of scans and stuff, I can't remember them all. I mean I was really young at the time. Still..._

_He was the first person to actually get so close to me and he was really nice..._

_I still remember how he had shaked his head, those grey eyebrows of his turned up, a sad frown on his wrinkled face. He turned around and brought out a small pad, actually it's the same one I'm using right now. But I've been using it as a journal these past years._

_The old man scribbled a bunch of things in the first page, then turned around to tell me that I was diseased, something called **Sickle-cell**. It's a really harsh disease, rare too. Not too many people have it and those that do don't last long._

_It starts out as a genetic abnormality in my **hemoglobin**( the oxygen- carrying pigment of red blood cells that gives them their red colour and serves to convey oxygen to the tissues). Normal red blood cells carry a molecule called **Hemoglobin A** , which healthy people have. Unfortunately I have a **hemoglobin S** molecule, which isn't so different from the other one except for one small protein. This in turns makes one tiny little difference dangerous to my very life!_

_And like I said this affect is deadly to my health considering that stupid abnormality lies along my **amino-acid chain**, also called a **Beta-globin**. Sickle-cell disease is a result of all this._

_And do I hate it all._

_So, as I was saying, having a **hemoglobin S** affects my cells oxygen-carrying abilities. Eventually that air loss helps develop this sickle-shaped blood cells. This process is called **polymerization**. These now sickle-shaped cells can't pass through my veins, so they end up blocking the path of some of the other healthy cells. And if that's not bad enough, my other tissues and organs begin to hurt from the lack of oxygen. _

_Kinda like being strangled, but for like most of your life._

_The higher the concentration and the more acidic the environment, the faster the sickle-cell process. All this blockage also creates** dehydration** to my cells. The only good thing so far is that only 20 percent of my cells are affected. But of course they die quickly and then more cells are affected. So basically my body can't keep up with reproducing more blood cells. Even the kyuubi can't do much with his wonderful healing capabilities. _

_If the sickle cells are re-introduced to oxygen then they will return to normal. But that doesn't happen often. The old man had even written down a whole bunch of symptoms. Not all affect me but the ones such as: **Delayed puberty, joint pain, and from time to time**( for me anyways) **energy loss**. It gets really aggravating and I begin to loathe it. _

_I already woke up, choking for air that my lungs couldn't reach, last night. My hand is still shaking, and the signs are becoming more evident. My body can't last much longer under this kind of illness. Hell, even a an onslaught of kunai are better to deal with than this._

_So basically I'm dying, and I've kept it secret from everyone And the medication helps somewhat too._

_I have to take all sorts of pills that can stimulate a **hemoglobin F** ( another sort of molecule that actually helps the body protect against sickling) so things aren't too bad. I mean I have like every colour of crayon for pill bottles hidden under my bathroom sink, but why should that bother me?_

_I have **Decitabine, Argenine** (those are for stimulating **HemoglobinF'**s), **Coltrimazole, Magnesium, Nitrendipine **(For dehydration), **Cord blood, Cordox, ReothRX**, and **Anticoagulation** just to name a few. _

_I have so many pills that I try to keep them all colour coded, makes things easy for me. And the funny thing is when I go for refills all the time noone seems to care that I'm taking out all sorts of drugs. You'd think they'd have me investigated or something?_

_It's almost 5: 30, time to take my other set of pills. Honestly this just becomes terribly deary after awhile._

_And everyone thought I was some happy, go-lucky idiot, without a care in the world._

_That's nothing but a lie, I have every care in the world._

_Considering I won't be in it for much longer..._

_Uzumaki Naruto_

Sunlight bounced off his hair as he strutted around his own apartment, a damp towel wrapped around his still wet waist. Water droplets fell in his eyes from time to time, no matter how much he tried to shake them out from his yellow crown. It was quite annoying among other things. His orange jumpsuit was already splayed out on his bed, waiting for him to slip into the familiar fabric. 'Later..' he thought. He threw his towel somewhere of into the distance, standing naked infront of his closet mirror.

He studied his own body, frowning in anger while his eyes only darkened with sadness. The sickling was beginning to affect his bones now. He noticed some of the swelling mentioned on the front of his journal, and knew right away that the sickling was beginning to mess with his bone marrow. "So that's why I feel extra tired and weak today," he mumbled to noone in particular.

He sighed again before slipping into his boxers and leaving the room, to head back to the bathroom. He already had the pills that he was told to take in the morning, placed all over the white counter. Cerulean eyes darted over each coloured container. Eight bottles in all, meaning eight different pills he was forced to swallow. He sighed again, and turned the tap on filling a yellow tea cup positioned on the counter for this purpose. One by one he engulfed each pill, drowning it down with a mouthful of water.

It was like waking up all over again. He didn't hurt as much, he even felt his burst of energy rush through him. That's how these pills worked. They let him feel as if everything was normal, as if he was never diseased, while the whole time under his skin he was slowly dying. Naruto doubted if medication actually had any affect on his tired body. He placed the cup down and the whole room swam. Dizziness, a normal side- effect to one of the pills he just swallowed. He didn't care which one any more. He let himself fall to the bathroom floor, breathing in deeply as the nausea passed him. 'Will there ever be a normal day for me?'

He fell into routine, preparing a cup of ramen for his breakfast( why bother eating healthy when you're already deathly ill?' and got dressed. He made another entry in his journal, noting how he had spotted his joints swelling, before clearing up a bit to leave for the day. He grabbed his pouch, strapping it to his belt. His weapons were in there, along with another set of pills placed in a small candy dispenser. Naruto took every measure to never get caught.

He looked in the bathroom mirror on his way out, ruffling his blonde hair then slipping into his idiotic fox grin. Everyone had their masks. Then he walked out of his apartment, locking the door, before jumping off whistling the whole way to the training grounds.

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Team seven sat under the shade of a couple trees, waiting impatiently for their teacher. The damn fool was always late, it was so god damn irritating. And when he finally showed up he always had some stupid ass excuse. It really grated Naruto as he sat under the oak, contemplating all the things that had ran through his mind ever since he found out. Death was the main topic, but there was also talks of the future, and what would happen after he was gone. Voices that bounced around in his head, driving him nearly insane with all those 'ifs' and 'Maybes'. His fingers were busy tangling themselves over each other in a desperate attempt to keep from jumping up and taking off right then and there. 'I just don't have the time for this!', he yelled in his head.

Just when he felt his last nerve give way, Kakashi showed up. Before the smoke even cleared his students were all over him, bellowing away their annoyance at his continuos late's. The copy cat ninja didn't even bother to give an excuse, just smiled through the black material of his mask. "Well, if you're all finished, I have a mission for you all." They all went rigid, falling silent to hear what this mission would be. "We have to help put up streamers", he announced with a smile. His students hit the ground hard, before they jumped back up again to rant on about the absurdity of their assigned task. He looked at them surprised at their anger. "Did you guys forget what week it is?"

Naruto shut his mouth, watching as his fellow teammates did the same, trying to think what week it was. His sensei sighed as all three teens looked up at him, confused. "It's Konoha's anniversary. We have to help set up decorations. Oh and we're expecting other nin from all over the country to come join us for the festivities. That means gaara and his teammates will be coming." Kakashi watched gleefully as Sasuke went rigid, along with Naruto. No doubt both boys wanted to spar with the red- head. He turned around signaling with his students that they were to follow. They had to get busy if they wanted to finish quickly.

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Naruto hung upside down, busy tying down a green streamer. These things were so freaking annoying in his opinion, and were really unnecessary in the long run. He finished up and sat down on one of the red-tiled roofs. No doubt the others had finished long ago but it didn't matter. He looked at his hands as they began to shake violently, a tight pressure building on his chest. It was time to take his pills, actually a few minutes past his time. They had started up when he had begun this street, but he ignored it so he could finish this ridiculous chore. Then he could rest.

He pulled out the orange candy dispenser, then pulled out a water bottle. He quickly dispensed the nine pills into his mouth, followed by a large mouthful of water. His eyes grew heavy and threatened to throw him into the blackness circling the edges of his vision, but the shaking stopped and so did the pain. He sighed in content, lying down on the roof, basking under the sunlight. 'Mmmmm...this feels nice...'

He nearly drifted off to sleep when a gong rung out. He sat up suddenly, fear gripping his heart. It took him a few seconds before he realized that it was just the village gate. Someone was coming into Konoha. He felt like going back to sleep but curiosity won this argument. He leaped past different rooftops, eyes quickly glancing down at the people below. Finally he had reached the gate. A small crowd was already assembled, silent as they stared at the sand gennin.

Naruto sighed before leaping down, and walking up to the crowd. 'This guys are soo annoying. You'd think they could at least act friendlier to our allies.' Naruto could feel the tension running through the crowd, and decided to break it. He walked back a little ways and opened his mouth, yelling loudly. Then he ran forward, amazed at how the crowd had easily awakened from their trance and had moved aside. He got to Gaara easily and had grabbed the other's arm, before pulling him away to safety. Temari and Kankurou followed.

He opened his mouth and began to spout nonsense about nothing in particular. 'Gotta keep up my facade.' He noticed how Gaara never said anything, didn't even bother to remove Naruto, which slightly bugged him. Noone ever let Naruto hang onto them, not even Gaara. He hid that fact that he had noticed that though, keeping his expression happy and idiotic. But after a bit the silence had gotten under his skin. He turned around to notice such sadnesss in the red-head's eyes.

'I haven't seen sadness like that in a long time..', he thought, swallowing hard. His eyes grew warm as he continued to gaze into those foggy depths, being wrapped up in the same darkness and pain that plaqued his dreams. He lived with that sadness everyday. Gaara lowered his head, and quickly brought it back up again. Naruto continued to gaze into his eyes, noticing how the guy was confused to have the other looking at him. Naruto was about to say something when Gaara growled at him, so he only grinned widely. It was always better to pretend.

They all ended up going to his favourite ramen shop. The rest of team 7 was there along with Iruka-sensei. Naruto grinned even bigger. Seeing Iruka truly did make him happy. He sat down beside his former teacher launching off into a long chat about more meaningless stuff. He even managed to order a bowl of ramen at the same time. The day progressed, with him half-listening to the conversations going on around him, and with him also spouting on about some type of ramen he liked best. Eventually Iruka noted it was dark and that our guests had no place to stay for the night. Before he knew it, temari and Kankurou had places to stay and the onyl one left was gaara.

Naruto raised his hand and in a cheerful cry declared that Gaara would be staying at his place. 'I need to find out what's bothering him. Why is the guy acting sadder than usual?' Naruto let Iruka pay for his food and then hauled the sand nin out of the stall and down the street to his house.

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Naruto waited til Gaara had went into his room, before bolting to the bathroom. His pills seemed untouched, but he couldn't be sure. He felt a sharp pain echo through him and he reached for his last set of pills. He shoved twelve pills in his mouth and turned on the faucet, filling his mouth with water. He swallowed them all and rested against the bathroom wall. The pain in his knee edged away, and he sighed in relief. He got to his feet and left the bathroom, heading over to his room. He fell asleep quickly, having also taken a sleeping pill, his blue eyes wavering on Gaara for a bit until they finally closed.

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It was all about living. He began to realize that the floating feeling he was experiencing at the moment was nothing but a dream. The tombstone beneath him was just something made up by his mind, due to the agonizing knowledge of knowing he was fading. This world...he would leave it so much sooner than the others. A slow dark shadow passed over him and before he realized it, he was losing air.

He coughed himself awake, clutching his chest, trying to dig into the flesh to relieve the agonizing tension. His legs kicked out in distress, his eyes crying tears as he was longer denied oxygen. He turned over the side of his bed, heaving all over the floor, his lungs still crying for air. An electric pain shot up his spine, frying his very nerves as he screamed out in pure torture. He had finally gained some air, and found himself in gaara's arms.

The other ninja was holding up away from his bed, naruto's feet just inches away from the puddle of puke. He clawed at the red-haired teen, screaming still with intense ferocity. He had to get away, had to get to his medicine. Had to save his life for one more day. Gaara was yelling back at him, trying to question him, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Naruto noticed the guy was just scared out of his mind, as he had never been in this position before, but he didn't care. Wasn't he making it quite clear that he wanted to be let go?

He scratched Gaara's face, blood pouring down from right under those light green eyes. He had finally gotten free. Naruto ran toward the bathroom, but a sharp tug on his wrist stopped him. "Dammit Gaara let me go! This has nothing to do with you!This is my problem so just leave me the FUCK ALONE!" He had actually managed to get words past his swollen throat and hurried into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and locking it.

He threw the cupboard doors open and downed a bunch of pills, his whole body acting as rubber. He slipped on the tile floor and fell, not bothering to get back up again. What was the point? Before long he had fallen back asleep, no longer in pain. He woke up a few hours later and got to his feet. The floor was too cold for him now, and his body was as heavy as led. He wiped drool from his lip, grunting as he struggled to stand. The lock clicked as he opened the door, and stepped out, walking back to his bedroom. That's when he noticed the whole place was silent.

He called out Gaara's name, but gave up when he couldn't even make more than a whisper. He stumbled into his room and found the floor clean. The guy had been nice enough to clean up his mess even when he had been acting as an asshole. Naruto slipped his black journal out from under his mattress, turning his lamp on. Yellow light flooded the bed, creating large and ominous shadows. Naruto opened a clean blank page, scribbling over it with his awkward hand writing. All the while crying.

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_Man I'm cruel. I really am._

_I mean I should understand that gaara was just trying to help but what could I do?_

_I was choking, I was literally dying in his arms and the guy had no fucking clue to let me go. I had to get to that bathroom, I needed to get to my meds..._

_I never wanted to hurt him, to scare him away. There's something about him, something that he's not telling anyone._

_I just...I don't know...I mean...well..._

_Ugh... dammit...I'm so confused..._

_I wanna apologize... I want to say sorry..._

_I mean...I'm an ass..._

_God...I'm being stupid...I mean crap...I just want..._

_Shit, stupid pills! I'm getting drowzy...I can't even think straight..._

_Tomorrow...I'll make it up to gaara..._

_I swear..._

_I'll make things right...I just hope..._

_...he doesn't tell..._

_Uzumaki Naruto _

**C.M.D: Yea another chapter complete!**

**I know I said I wouldn't write another one til I got reviews but I thought that the first one wasn't much to review on anyways, so a second was better to have if I ever expected reviews. **

**Now I know the diary entry at the top is a lot to handle, but you have no idea how much research I went through and how many diseases I looked at before I decided on this one. And even then I still had to research on medicine and symptoms. There was A LOT to go through.**

**So I hope you liked this chapter and please review me! I really would like some reviews! Even one! **

**Ta-ta for now! **


	3. Sakura

1

_The first day of the festival. I can't wait!! _

_Today I'm going to wear my brand new dress. I do so hope my sweet comes today. I hope to see him so much._

_And if Ino-pig is there, I'll be so upset. _

_I don't want her near my love, contaminating him with her hare-brained ideas. _

_She's so oblivious to other's feelings. I mean I've seen Chouji staring at her lovingly but what does she care?_

_She only has eyes for Sasuke...that stupid prick. I so don't like people like that._

_On the other hand my handsome genius is absolutely wonderful. _

_He is so smart but so relaxed, and cute too. He gets top points over Sasuke any day. _

_**Ack!!**_

_It's already 7:00 and I haven't yet gotten ready. I don't want to be late! _

_**Sakura**_

Shower done and dressed to impress, a pink-haired girl stepped from her house and padded toward the festivities of today. The anniversary of Konoha, an event that came only once every ten years, was going to be great. It was a way for people to meet other people, for peace to be wrought between old enemies and for new bonds to be made. 'And I plan to make a new bond this year,' Sakura declared in her head. She rounded the bend and ran into Kakashi, who was at the moment busy reading his favorite orange book. "Good morning Kakashi-sensei!!" Sakura yelled cheerfully.

The older jounin turned to her and smiled through his mask. "Well don't we seem to be in a good mood today," Kakashi said. Sakura nodded her head, placing her hands behind her back. 'Definitely. Today is the day I get my love to notice me!' Kakashi noted Sakura had grown silent for a second and turned about. "Well if you don't mind. I'll take my leave now. There's a few things I'd like to do." Sakura watched her sensei's retreating back, a little puzzled. What kind of things would the grey-haired shinobi need to do on a holiday? She dismissed the thought quickly though when she heard that voice. The one that haunted her dreams.

"Ugh...Come on Ino why do we have to come to this thing. I can be doing better things than walking through crowds." "Oh quit you're whining, Shikamaru. You need to be around people more often." Sakura turned, ready to murder Ino for telling her Shikamaru to shut up. But all plans of killing the blonde disappeared when she laid eyes on the genius brunette. 'Oh he is so CUTE!! I could just kiss him!' Sakura had to mentally slap herself before her mind ran off with romantic visions of her and Shikamaru. She strode over to the trio, smiling.

"Hey chouji, Shikamaru." The others said hi, Ino compromising the traditional greeting for a 'Bill-board brow' and Sakura returning with a 'Ino-pig'. "So are you going to be staying for the festivities?," sakura asked, turning to Shikamaru who was busy staring up at the clouds. "Yeah we are. I can't wait to get to the stands. Festival food is always the best,"Chouji smiled. Ino stared at chouji as if he had two heads. "chouji you just ate a full course meal before coming here. and you want more?!" Chouji shrugged. "Yeah, you're point?" Ino shook her head, and Sakura could only feel sympathy for Chouji. 'Poor guy.'

Sakura moved to stand over by Shikamaru, poised to strike conversation with him if only to hear his voice, when the last person she wanted to see turned the corner. As was required of her she raced Ino and attached herself to one of Sasuke's arms, as Ino took the other. The two girls bickered about who would date Sasuke and who was better than the other, all the while holding on to the raven's arms. Sasuke frowned with the female contact but moved forward all the same.

He walked up to the other two boys, giving them a slight glare. "I guess that mean you're with us for the rest of the day, huh Sasuke?," Chouji asked. The Uchiha increased his glare, nodding his head. As long as these female vultures were glued to him he might as well stay near these two. They could help in holding the two girls back when they began to fight. Sakura pushed up against the raven, fluttering her eyelashes and saying how much she loved Sasuke. 'I think I'm going to be sick,'she thought.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

'I wonder where Naruto is? And what about Gaara, I wonder how he's doing.' With nothing better to do since she was obliged to stick herself forever by Sasuke's side, Sakura had set herself to thinking. Thinking about normal things, mostly about Shikamaru though but slowly her mind had brought her to Naruto. It was almost afternoon and she still hadn't seen any sign of Naruto. Usually the blonde was hovering around being loud and annoying, always asking her out on a date to which she always declined. there was only one person who had her heart and it wasn't this selfish prick she was holding onto right now.

But without the blonde around she was slightly worried. 'He should be here. It isn't right without him around.' Sakura twisted her head, looking around her until she finally spotted Gaara. Without thinking she released Sasuke and hurried over to the sand nin. He was on his own which she thought was surprising since she expected him to either be with his team or with Naruto. "G-gaara?" He voice shook as she approached the red-head, he was just radiating this aura that said stay away. The sand nin turned around and glared at her with one eye, waiting silently.

"Um..Gaara-san have you seen Naruto? I can't find him and I'm slightly worried." The red-head watched her still, not saying anything. "O-okay...well if you haven't seen him than that's ok." Sakura turned to leave when she heard Gaara speak. "He might be at his place still. I don't recall him ever leaving." Sakura nodded her head and thanked the boy, turning around and hurrying to Naruto's house.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

_Knock. Knock._

She stood in place, waiting but it seemed noone was going to come answer the door. Sighing tiredly, Sakura tried the door knob. 'Well good, the apartment's at least locked.' Still that could mean he was home or he wasn't. Still somewhat worried Sakura jumped to the trees, moving around the building and positioning herself outside of Naruto's room. Well there was noone there, the house appeared empty. She sighed and scratched at her head. This whole excursion had been a waste of time. Dropping down from the tree Sakura made for the path. It was time to return to the festival and hope that Shikamaru was on his own or she was going to have to stick herself to Sasuke again. She shivered in repulsion at the thought. 'Man I hate that guy.'

She continued to walk, unaware that she had company on the street. "Sakura-chan!! Sakura-chan!!" She turned and looked at Rock lee as he bounded toward her in that hideous green leotard. 'God...kill me now.' "Good Afternoon Sakura-chan. Enjoying your youthfulness I hope!" "Yes Lee. I am. Are you going to the festival?" "Oh yes Sakura-chan. Let us go together." Sakura paled at the thought of entering the festival with Lee on her side. "Um..actually Lee I'm going to head home. The sun has made me a little tired and I need to go lie down." Rock Lee's expression faltered a bit but his glowing smile returned.

"Oh I see. Sakura-chan has had too much fun and is quite exhausted. Then I shall go and have some fun too. See you tomorrow then Sakura-chan!!" Sakura nodded and thanked Kami for her quick thinking as she watched Lee run off to the festival. Suddenly she did feel tired and decided maybe today wasn't such a great day. 'I think I'll go sleep and hopefully tomorrow will turn out better.' With that she returned home.

_Ah man. Today just sucked._

_I couldn't even get close to Shikamaru before that damn Ice bastard showed up._

_I hate having to pretend to like him but I can't just go to shikamaru and say 'Hey, guess what? I like you.' _

_He'll think I'm a total skank. and I ran into rock lee too. _

_I mean I can understand that he likes me but I don't like him like that. I mean he's just a friend to me. _

_Why is it that all the guy's I consider friends like me? _

_And the one I like doesn't give me a second glance. _

_Oh phooey. _

_What's a girl like myself supposed to do?_

_**Sakura**_


	4. Rock Lee

_She is an angel,  
__beautiful and radiant.  
__Pretty pink,  
__The sunrise gradient.  
__For her I shall move,  
__In a swirl of youthful spirit.  
__To my angel,  
__as a shinobi I'll be perfect._

_**Rock Lee**_

Dressed in the youthful shade of energetic green spandex, the young taijutsu user dashed down the street, ever excited to run into the beautiful Haruno. Rock Lee, the handsome green beast of Konoha, was eager to go to the festival today. His team had worked real hard on setting up, being assigned to lifting the heavier loads. The thought of last week's work made the boy with the stylish bowl-cut shiver with excitement. Maybe he could convince Neji to train with him today.

Lost in his thoughts, Rock Lee was surprised when he saw Sakura on the road up ahead. Quickly, he bounded up to her, calling out the pinkette's name. "Sakura-chan!! Sakura-chan!!," he called. The girl looked up, a shaky smile spreading across the her face. "Good afternoon, Sakura-chan. Enjoying your youthfulness I hope!," the black-haired youth said, smiling brightly at the kunoichi. The pink-haired female folded her hands in front of her. "Yes, Lee. I am," Sakura replied. "Are you going to the festival?"

Rock Lee jumped at the question, seeing it as an opening that Sakura had made for him to ask her out. "Oh, yes Sakura-chan. Let's go together!" The beautiful girl seemed to pale a little bit, and the green-clad boy looked on worriedly. "Umm...actually, Lee, I'm going to head home. The sun has made me a little tired and I need to lie down." His smile fell a little, but the dark-haired youth smiled anyways. "Oh, I see. Sakura-chan has had too much fun and is quite exhausted. Then I shall go and have some fun too. See you tomorrow Sakura-chan!!"

Leaving the pinkette, the spandex-wearing male rushed to the festival, intent on finding his team. Humming happily to himself, Rock Lee ran through the festival gates. Yes, in the youthful spirit of Konoha he would spend his day happily, so that he can tell Sakura-chan tomorrow all the things he did.

* * *

The festival was big, beautiful and so very youthful. The adults were conversing and partkaing in all the events, and the children were content enough to dash through the crowds. Lee felt that he should do the same. He was a green blur, running through the people with his amazing speed. Suddenly he came to a stop. "Yosh! Neji, my eternal rival, I have found you!!," Rock Lee yelled out. Said Hyuuga flinched, standing not but a few feet away from the exuberant teen, gave a twitch and tried to slip away behind a nearby stall. TenTen, who'd been with the white-eyed boy, grabbed the raven's collar and pulled him back before he could escape.

Rock Lee, as always oblivious, quickly joined his team; pulling Neji into a big bear hug. "It is so wonderfully youthful of you Neji to be here at the festival. Let free your youthful spirit!" TenTen chuckled as Neji's eyebrow began a spastic twitch, truning to the Hyuuga's captor. "Hi Lee. I see you've finally decided to show up."

Lee turned to his female teammate, dropping Neji in the process, smiling brightly at the weapons-user. "Of course, TenTen. Not even my forgetful memory can keep me from this magnificent display of youth," Rock Lee declared, striking his 'good-guy' pose. The brown-haired girl flinched at the shining teeth, but smiled nonetheless. "Well then...," she started. "How about we go check out some of the game stalls?" Lee jumped in place joyfully, turning to a fleeing Neji.

"Neji, Neji! No, you musn't leave! Come my eternal rival, let us put our youth toward a contest of strength and accuracy at these game stalls!!"

"No," came the blunt reply. TenTen smirked at the raven's back, clearing her throat to grab the attention of the sulking bowl-cut boy and the pompous Hyuuga. "Don't feel so bad, Lee. Neji's just afraid that he'll ruin his perfect hair. He's much to chicken to face you and run that risk."

TenTen grinned evilly at the expected reaction as Neji grabbed Rock Lee's arm and dragged the stunned boy to a nearby stall. "You're on," the Hyuuga growled, slamming a handful of money down on the table. Rock Lee beamed at TenTen genius.

* * *

"Yo!" TenTen turned around at the sudden voice, smiling up at the man. "Hiya, Kakashi-sensei. What brings you here?," she asked. The grey-haired jounin looked up from his book, pointing a finger past the girl's buns. Turning back around, TenTen watched as her teammates practically tore the Shuriken Toss stall to shreds with their competitiveness. Finally out of plastic shurikens, the stall owner raised his head above the counter and looked around the stall, crying in dismay. "If i give you each a prize, will you leave?!" The stall owner didn't give them time to respond, but threw an armful of stuffed animals at the two boys before slamming the stall window down.

Neji and Lee looked at their prizes, then threw them into the bags strapped to their backs before dashing off to find another stall. "Oh, yeah... _that_," TenTen said, scratching the side of her head. "They've been going at it all afternoon. They sure got alot of energy."

Kakashi hummed behind her, turning a page in his book. "At the rate they're going, they'll have the festival cleaned out before the end of the day."

TenTen paled at this, and turned to Kakashi, bowing. "S-sorry, sensei but i-I have something I've gotta do. Ja!" Quickly, the girl ran after her teammates. Kakashi watched her go, before returning to his book. "Kakashi, my eternal rival!!"

The grey-haired jounin, quickly began walking away from the disturbing voice of Gai. "Wait, rival! We must partake in a contest of youthfulness!!," the green-spandex jounin cried, chasing after Kakashi. Kakashi sighed, picking up his pace. "Leave me alone, Gai!"

"But TenTen, me and rival Neji have yet to complete our contest of power to see who best dominates their youth!" The browm-haired girl looked quizingly at her teammate but continued to drag him down the street anyways. "I'm not really sure what you said... but that's what training's for Lee!," the girl huffed, finally releasing the spandex wearing teen. "Now go home and rest. It's already late in the evening. You don't want to be tired tomorrow, do you?," she aked.

Lee looked up at the night sky, shaking his head. "Yes, TenTen is right! I must rest while the black blanket sparkles above me so as to compensate the energy I need to be youthful once the sky bears the golden disc again!"

TenTen blinked at the black-haired boy. "Wow... th-that sounded kinda poetic, Lee."

Mentioned teammate blushed at that, and quickly got to his feet, saying a hasty goodnight to the brown-haired kunoichi. Hurrying back home, the boy panicked inside that bowl-cut head of his. _'I-i almost slipped! My perfidious tongue has almost let me divulge the queer talent of the aptness of my mind. Oh, such discountenance to my youth!!' _Sighing, the black-haired teen slowed down to a walk. He turned his black eyes to the sky, widening them in surprise when he realized that he was staring up at Sakura's window. Looking back and forth, the taijutsu gennin saw that he was alone.

Smiling to himself, he reached into the bag on his back and pulled out a stuff animal. He looked at the plushie, seeing that it was a pretty white bunny with a beautiful Sakura blossom sewed onto his head beside its left year. Rock Lee beamed, holding the doll in his arms as he pulled out a sheet of paper and pen seemingly out of the air. Quickly he scribbled something down, securing the paper in the doll's arm and leaving the stuffed animal on the pink-haired female's doorstep. Skipping home, the events of the day were forgotten as the boy dressed in hideous green spandex daydreamed about his beautiful Sakura-chan as she recieved his gift.

* * *

_Tonight I left my offered gift upon her doorstep. I only hope she will accept it.  
Though she continues to thwart my efforts, I will seek her hand until she is stolen by someone more valiant than I.  
Even if it breaks this beating organ from which stems my love, I will yield.  
For...  
My heart lives off the angel's smile,  
and the light of her soul.  
Her eyes beseech to me,  
I take their words as a whole.  
If another causes her,  
to shine bright.  
Then for that smile,  
I'll give up the fight.  
And I'll protect,  
her love for another._

I wonder if Sakura-chan would be impressed if I read her some of my writings. Girls like romantic poems, right?  
**Rock Lee**


End file.
